Buzzzzzzzed And Auntumn #17

 "Why should I wake when I am half passed dead?"

 

~Emilie Autumn

 

Isn't it weird? But if that chair needs a little caffeine, to feel more like the inner bar stool that it really is, who am I too laugh or deny it a little something to kick the day into existence? 

~Me

 

 

I (Heart) Clark's Grebe And Leaf Of The Day #16

 

"Summer rolled into autumn

views of this world fall away."

 

Meeta Ahluwalia

 

The grebe is such a lovely water bird. It makes a strange barking sound, so if you just heard it's sound but didn't see the bird itself you might think there was some kind of monster in the pond. A small monster. But when you see the grebe, happily fishing, or floating about in the mid-day sun, you might think that whatever sound it makes, it would be properly British. You see, it's head reminds me of a British bobby hat. I am beginning to really love these guys! Sometimes I am very happy inside.

 

~Me

 

 

Great Ergret And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #15

 

"It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with 

air like cider and a sky blue you could drown in it."

 

Diana Gabaldon

Outlander

 

Isn't this a stunning sight? A scene so mesmerizing that all I wanted to do was walk into the water and swim around with the grebes, egrets, and cormorants. Look, it's so clear and so reflective you can see the details in the egret's under wings. The sky really was so blue you could drown in it. A sky that screams, autumn, but indeed, October. And a there's a bit of colorful algae to make the picture have a little color, but not so much algae that the ecosystem was an unhealthy mess for the birds. While on my visit to the Clifton Court Forebay, yesterday, I was able to see a number a beautiful sights, so don't give up on me, I can't wait to show you the beautiful things I see!

 

~Me

With A Twinkle In His Eyes And The Autumn Leaf Of The Day #14

 "Ah, lovely October, as you usher in the season that awakens my soul, your awesome beauty compels my spirit to soar like a lead caught in an autumn breeze and my heart to sing like a heavenly choir."

 

~Peggy Toney Horton

 

Today would be my father's 104th birthday. He is buried just down the road, in Lodi, but it's not really him there, he lives all around me, every day. He is just as amazed as I am, that I live in Stockton. I think mostly about the good days we had, not the sad or abusive ones. I still laugh at some of his jokes, or how most excellently he would lay down a righteous burn or goof on someone. He could make my day, or kill me with the pain only he knew how to inflict. I don't want to think about the bad times anymore, I have made my peace with them. I just want to think about my dad, and be glad that he was my dad. I just wish he and I would have had more time to discuss the beauty of the San Joaquin Delta. But I, in my youthful arrogance, would never entertain the nightmare of living here.

Be careful of the things, and people, you take for granted.

 

~Me

 

 

 

 

No really I am. Seriously, I am. Seriously. And #13

 "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious

as sunshine by staying in the house."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

The American Notebooks

Seriously, I am going to write about something other than birds and leaves, now that I am back to blogging for the next six months. Other things do actually exist for me. Like what you ask? Well, like baking and using my new air fryer that we bought around/near my birthday. I haven't actually used it yet, but my sweetie husband has made a steak and some sweet potato fries that were to die for! Yum. So, he has inspired me to make something soon. Also, the bread maker is finally unpacked and ready to be used. You remember how much I used it was used in my former life on Alturas.

 

 At one point I think I made some kind of baked item at least every couple days, but until I am less obsessed with birds and leaves, I am afraid this is the course I am on. But hey, it's October, which means vacation has officially begun for 2022. We will be going here are there, and then there is Movieapalosa. This year, I think we broke a record, on DVD purchases. There are at least thirty new movies, just waiting to be seen. Most are horror movies, but we also added some comedies too. Maybe that will be a subject of an upcoming post, how I overspent on vacation. I bet you can't wait! So, into the autumn sunshine I go, and hopefully I will see, and photograph, more beauty than I did the previous day!

 

Click Photo To Enlarge

Tuesday's Leaf Of The Day... #13

~Me

Looking Deeper Into The Photograph And #12

 

"It was one of those perfect autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life."

 

~P.D. James

A Taste For Death 

 

 

Clifton Court Forebay

I photographed this amazing Osprey on September 22nd, just hours before autumn was to begin officially. I was giddy with pure joy at the promise that the long, stupid, hot summer was finally over. The golden sun was shining in a cornflower blue sky and there was a surprisingly cool breeze blowing really gentle, it was just enough to cool you, but not to insult you. And there he was... a really big bird I had never seen before. The Osprey. And he was eating a fish, but I didn't notice until yesterday, while going through some photos, because I had been concentrating only on him.

 

His yellow eyes. His impressive size, especially when his wingspan (5 feet) is out fully. I NEVER saw the fish. There is a real lesson in that, as photographer must ALWAYS be aware of the backgrounds when doing a photo FULL STOP! I neglected to do that, so lesson learned! That was something Steven tried to impress on me, and I really try to do it, but in this case that bird was so amazing, so challenging, so wickedly beautiful that I was completely focused on preserving the moment that the osprey and I made eye contact. It's not an excuse, but it is a reason. Now, isn't it fun that a little autumn magic came into play?

 

And now a little more autumn magic...

 

 

~Me

 

 

A Tale Of Two Roads And #11

 "September days have the warmth of summer in their hours, but in their lengthening evening a prophetic breath of autumn."

~Rowland E. Robinson

 

Desmond road

Galt, California

Spring, 2022
 

I speak a lot about Desmond road, and the Woodbridge Wildlife Preserve in, Lodi, California, so I thought it would be nice to give them their own post. I have enjoyed them very much this year! I saw, and photographed, my first bald eagle on Desmond road, last spring, and another moment I will never forget was seeing was a small flock of Sandhill Cranes flying in circle over my car on Woodbridge road, on the very day they returned to Lodi. It was so soul stirring I think I aged backwards at least two years! Birding has been good for me, I hope I can see all the birds on my list this year, but it's okay if it takes me ten years to find them, because it will always be the ones you didn't count on being there, that fill those little parts of my heart that needs healing the most. That's the way it is with bird watching. It's kinda like a treasure hunt. Even if there are no birds to be found, there is always a beautiful pier, park, forest, or just a gorgeous road, in the middle of nowhere, that's discovered along the way, and if you are lucky, you just might see a bald eagle, or a Sandhill Crane!

 

Desmomd road

Galt, California

September 2022

 Woodbridge road

September 2022

Woodbridge road

September 2022

 

And...

 

 

 

 ~Me